


It Starts With Hello

by moongirl24



Category: As the World Turns
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-31
Updated: 2012-05-31
Packaged: 2017-11-06 10:07:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/417629
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moongirl24/pseuds/moongirl24
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke gets obsessed with a stranger's voice after talking with him on the phone.</p>
            </blockquote>





	It Starts With Hello

_Pick up, pick up, pick up_ , Luke quietly pleads as he holds the phone to his ear and paces back and forth across the floor in his office. He runs a hand impatiently through his hair but the phone just keeps ringing, and he sighs in frustration and is about to give up when finally there is a voice on the other end. “Hello?”  
  
Luke frowns and goes quiet for a moment in confusion. That didn’t sound like Casey. His voice sounded different, and Casey usually answers Luke’s calls with a cheerful, ‘hi, man’ or ‘what’s up?’, and this quick, rather distracted ‘hello’ didn’t sound anything like him.  
  
“Hello,” Luke says, and adds hesitantly, “Casey?”  
  
“Um, no,” the voice replies, and now Luke realizes that it’s definitely not Casey he is talking with. “Someone left this phone here at Java, so I picked it up in case it was the owner calling. I work here.”  
  
“Oh, right,” Luke says and is honestly not all that surprised, because Casey forgets his phone _all the time_. He has almost forgotten by now why he was in such a hurry to speak with Casey in the first place, because this stranger on the other end has a really nice voice, deep and rich and warm, and Luke figures that talking to him might not be the worst way to spend a few minutes of his otherwise quite boring day. “I’m Luke,” he offers. “I’m a friend of Casey’s. The owner of the phone.”  
  
“Oh, good,” the stranger says, and now Luke can hear some noise in the background, some voices and some rustle. “Maybe you can tell your friend that we have his phone here and that he can just ask for it the next time he comes by.”  
  
“Great, I’ll tell him,” Luke says, and then tries to come up with something else to say because this guy’s voice is so _comfortable_ to listen to, it’s the kind of voice that should be on the radio so that people could listen to it all day. And Luke finds himself wondering what this stranger looks like. He sounds like maybe he could be around Luke’s age and Luke is picturing him quite tall, a little taller than Luke himself, maybe with blue eyes. Pretty eyes. And dark hair. And his smile is the kind of smile that makes Luke feel warm inside, like his voice does, the kind that makes Luke smile too, because it’s such a nice smile.  
  
He shakes himself out of his daydream, and tells himself to stop being silly. Luke visits Java quite frequently, and none of the employees there look anything like the mental image in his head. Apparently it’s been far too long since he last had a date.  
  
The stranger is talking again. “Look, I have to hang up, it’s quite busy here today,” he says with an excuse in his voice, and there is more stirring in the background. “But let your friend know where he can find his phone, okay?”  
  
“Sure,” Luke says, and he wants to say something more, but the guy on the other end has already ended the call, and Luke slowly lets the hand holding the phone sink from his ear.  
  
He stares at the phone for a few seconds, as if that would somehow bring that voice back. Then he shakes his head, and laughs a little to himself. He is being silly. It was just some guy who happened to pick up Casey’s phone. It probably isn’t anything special about him at all.  
  
Except that he has a really, really nice voice.  
  
Luke tries to go back to work, but he can’t seem to concentrate, and it doesn’t take long before he gets back up from his desk chair and grabs his phone, keys and wallet.  
  
He thinks a visit to Java might be in order.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
It really is quite busy at Java, but most of the customers seem to order their coffees to go, because it’s not hard to find a free table. Luke chooses one in the back and lets his eyes sweep across the room as he shrugs off his jacket and sits down on one of the chairs (the one who gives him the best view of the room).  
  
He can’t see any new faces among the employees, and even if he doesn’t quite want to admit it, that disappoints him a little. It seems like his hot guy fantasy really was just that – a fantasy. The only male barista he can see is Jeff, a guy who seems to have been working at Java forever, but who Luke has never really spoken with. Was it Jeff he talked to on the phone? Shit, that is just embarrassing. Because Jeff is as straight as they come, with a girlfriend who Luke used to go to high school with, and even if he had been gay, he is not really Luke’s type. He seems friendly, and is not all that bad to look at, but that is about it. In addition to the fact that he seemingly has a really nice voice, of course.  
  
And Luke really has to stop obsessing over that. Especially now that he has found out that it most likely wasn’t some mysterious hot guy he talked to on the phone before. It was just Jeff.  
  
He sighs and looks towards the counter again, doing a double take when he discovers that there is someone else there now, a new guy wearing the familiar green Java t-shirt. Luke sits up a little straighter. The new guy looks so much like the guy from Luke’s imagination that all Luke can do is stare dumbly at him while he mentally goes through his list. Tall? Check. Dark hair? Check. Pretty blue eyes? Well, it’s difficult to tell from this distance, but Luke thinks so, so check. Beautiful smile? Oh god, yes. _Check_.  
  
The guy is all that, and more. He is _gorgeous_. And Luke just knows that this must be the guy he talked to on the phone. This is the guy with that soft, warm voice. It really can’t be anyone else.  
  
The guy (‘Hot Barista Guy’ Luke now calls him in his head) doesn’t notice him at all, which is probably just as well, since Luke can’t seem to stop staring. It’s quite obvious that Hot Barista Guy is new at Java, because Jeff is standing next to him, pointing and seemingly giving directions of some kind, while Hot Barista Guy listens and nods. A moment later, when he is serving coffee to a customer, Luke notices that his movements are a little clumsy and awkward, like this isn’t something he is used to doing. But it’s pretty adorable too, Luke thinks, and then he feels a blush creep into his cheeks, because apparently he has it bad for the new guy and he is not being all that subtle about it.  
  
He forces himself to tear his gaze away and looks down at the table instead. And that’s when he realizes that in his eagerness to find out who the guy from the phone is, he has actually forgotten to order coffee. And then there is Casey’s phone. Now that Luke is here, he might as well pick it up, right? Save Casey the trip.  
  
Before he can give himself too much time to think it over, he gets up off the chair, and walks right up to the counter. Hot Barista Guy is there alone now, Jeff apparently having disappeared into the back. When Luke approaches, Hot Barista Guy looks up and gives Luke a smile, a really, really pretty one.  
  
“Hi, what can I get you?” he asks, looking expectantly at Luke.  
  
Luke is rendered speechless for a moment, because, _hello voice_ , and because Hot Barista Guy is even more gorgeous up close, but he quickly pulls himself together. “Um, hi… I’m here to pick up my friend’s phone. He left it here.”  
  
Hot Barista Guy gives a little nod, and smiles wider. “You’re Luke?” he asks, and thrill goes through Luke at discovering that Hot Barista Guy actually _remembers his name_. He can’t help the smile that breaks out on his face as he nods.  
  
“Yeah. I… I was in the area, so I figured I’d drop by and pick it up.” That sounds pretty convincing, he thinks. He was just in the neighborhood; he is just doing his friend a favor. Anyone would have done that.  
  
Hot Barista Guy looks at him. “You’re a good friend,” he says, and his gaze lingers on Luke, just long enough to make Luke start thinking that maybe, maybe Hot Barista Guy is actually… but no, that would have been too good to be true. Oakdale is many things, but it isn’t exactly overflowing with gay guys (at least, gay guys who are out) and Hot Barista Guy can’t be gay because that kind of thing just doesn’t happen to Luke. Luke doesn’t just meet really, really hot gay guys at the local coffee shop like this.  
  
“I was… just in the area,” he repeats rather lamely, because Hot Barista Guy is still looking at him and still smiling a little, and that smile is totally distracting. So much so, that when Hot Barista Guys bends down and starts rummaging around behind the counter, giving Luke a whole different (but still very nice) view, he has already forgotten about Casey’s phone. A moment later, when Hot Barista Guy puts it on the counter in front of Luke, Luke only stares dumbly at it.  
  
“Your friend’s phone,” Hot Barista Guy says, and Luke looks up at him, seeing the amusement in his blue eyes.  
  
“Right. Casey’s phone.” _Which is the reason you are here in the first place, right? Get a grip, Snyder_.  
  
“Well, thank you for stopping by,” Hot Barista Guy says as Luke takes Casey’s phone and slips it into his pocket. “Can I get you a coffee?”  
  
Luke orders it to go – he has spent far too much time staring at Hot Barista Guy as it is, and he should get back to the office anyway.  
  
A few minutes later he has pulled his jacket back on and is standing there with a warm cup of coffee in his hand. “Bye, Luke,” Hot Barista Guy calls after him as Luke turns to leave, and Luke closes his eyes for a moment, letting that voice warm his insides.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
So maybe Luke’s already frequent visits to Java become even more frequent after that day. It only makes sense – Java is close to work, and they serve decent coffee, so it’s just the place to go to fulfill his coffee needs. The fact that Hot Barista Guy works there now is only a nice bonus.  
  
Unfortunately Luke never really gets the chance to talk with him. Mainly because Hot Barista Guy isn’t always there (Luke figures he probably only works part-time), and also because it’s usually quite busy. And it’s not like he _knows_ Hot Barista Guy. It’s not like they have anything to talk about, really. But when he is there, he always greets Luke with a smile and a “Hi Luke, what can I get you today?”, making a warm rush of something new run through Luke.  
  
One afternoon he decides to bring Maddie along, figuring it must look kind of pathetic that he always visits Java by himself. Hot Barista Guy must think he doesn’t have any friends or something. So he brings Maddie, which is great because he hasn’t talked to her all week, and he can always count on having a good time together with her.  
  
“Oooh, who’s the new guy?” is the first thing she says when they enter the coffee shop. She looks at Luke excitingly. “He’s cute!”  
  
That is an understatement. Hot Barista Guy is more than cute, he is… kind of perfect. And it’s starting to really bother Luke that he still doesn’t know his name. Hot Barista Guy knows Luke’s name, it would only be fair if Luke knew his. But there has never really been an opportunity to ask, at least not without it seeming weird. And so Hot Barista Guy it is. He doesn’t tell Maddie that, of course. He doesn’t want to seem like a total loser.  
  
He orders coffee for the two of them, and Hot Barista Guy gives him his usual friendly greeting. Luke wonders if he is this friendly with all his customers. Probably. Hot Barista Guy just seems like a really likeable guy. Luke sighs as he walks back to his and Maddie’s table, two cups of coffee in his hands. This whole thing is getting ridiculous. There is no denying he likes Hot Barista Guy, he kind of likes him _a lot_. But he doesn’t know where to go from here, doesn’t know if Hot Barista Guy is even gay. Sure, there has been eye contact across the room a couple of times, but not enough to ensure Luke that Hot Barista Guy actually means something by it. And that, along with the short conversations they have each time Luke orders coffee, is all there has been. And Luke is starting to think that it’s all it will ever be. Because surely, if Hot Barista Guy was, you know, _interested_ , he would have given Luke some sort of sign by now?  
  
He is just taking a sip of his coffee, when Maddie lowers her head a little and whispers, “Don’t look, but the new guy is totally looking our way.”  
  
Luke startles, and automatically turns his head to look, but Maddie smacks him lightly on the arm. “I said don’t look!”  
  
Luke sighs in frustration and silently curses himself for not choosing the chair that would have given him the best view of the counter. Now Maddie is the one who gets to look at Hot Barista Guy, while Luke is left looking across the table at Maddie, who is currently trying her best to throw discreet glances towards the counter. After a while she sighs dramatically.  
  
“No. That one is playing for your team, Luke. I’m starting to think it’s true what they say. That the cute ones are always either gay or taken.”  
  
Luke sets his cup down, feeling hope rise despite himself. “Are you sure?” he can’t help but ask.  
  
She smirks at him. “He hasn’t taken his eyes off you for the past two minutes.”  
  
“Well, that’s a first,” he can’t help but mutter, because during all the hours that he has spent looking (okay, _staring_ ) at Hot Barista Guy, Luke has never once caught him looking back. Except for those few short moments of eye contact, of course, but that could have been purely coincidental for all Luke knows.  
  
Maddie’s eyes are on him. “You like him,” she says suddenly, pulling Luke out of his thoughts. Her smile widens. “You totally like him.”  
  
He can’t bring himself to protest. So he just shrugs. “Yeah, well. It doesn’t matter. I don’t even know his name.”  
  
Maddie looks at him almost incredulously, and then, before Luke can stop her, she gets up off the chair, takes her now empty cup, and walks straight up to the counter. Luke can only watch (and try his best to ignore that little pang of jealousy that suddenly assaults him) as she talks and laughs with Hot Barista Guy as if they were old friends or something, before she gets her refill and returns to the table.  
  
“His name is Noah,” she says as she sits back down, sets the cup of coffee on the table, and leans back in the chair with her arms crossed in front of her. “He moved to Oakdale about a month ago and works here part-time.” She gives him a stern look. “That really wasn’t so hard to find out. So why haven’t you done it before? I suspect that you have spent quite a bit of time here lately.”  
  
He looks down at the table. She’s right, of course. He is pathetic, and completely out of practice when it comes to guys (not that he has ever had much practice in the first place). But he also can’t quite keep from smiling.  
  
 _His name is Noah._  
  
Noah. It’s perfect.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
Maddie is not one to let him off the hook easily, so of course she doesn’t give up until he has told her the full story of how he and Hot Barista Guy (Noah, he reminds himself) ‘met’, how he got kind of obsessed with his voice, and then with Noah himself. The whole time while he is talking, she has this little smile on her face, and somehow, by the time they say goodbye to each other that afternoon, she has made him promise to stop being silly, dig up some confidence and actually do something about the ‘situation’, as she calls it.  
  
It sounds like a good idea in theory. It’s what he should have done ages ago, anyway. So the next time he walks into Java (alone, this time) he is determined to actually talk to Noah, more than just telling him his coffee order. But rather surprisingly, Noah beats him to it.  
  
“Here alone today?” he asks casually, and Luke tries to hide his surprise as he nods.  
  
“Yeah. Maddie, she has class, so…”  
  
“Right.” Noah nods once, and Luke can’t help but notice that something seems to have changed. Noah’s normally friendly and easy smile seems a little more forced, and the fact that he is even striking up conversation is definitely something out of the ordinary. Luke tries to find something to say, but once again, Noah beats him to it. “I suppose you want the usual?”  
  
 _He knows my coffee order_. He almost breaks into a smile at that, but he stops himself in time. “Yes, thank you.”  
  
He watches as Noah prepares his coffee and sets it on the counter in front of him. “She’s very pretty,” he says, and when Luke arches his eyebrows in confusion, he adds, “Your girlfriend. Maddie, is it?”  
  
Luke only stares dumbly at him. Girlfriend? Maddie? Noah can’t seriously think that Maddie is…?  
  
But apparently he does, because his expression is completely earnest, albeit a little guarded. Luke just shakes his head and gives a short, incredulous laugh, and now it’s Noah’s turn to look confused.  
  
“Sorry,” Luke says, still shaking his head because in a town where pretty much everybody knows who he is, and where, for years, he was the only out gay man around (in recent years, that has changed, thankfully), he just isn’t taken for being straight very often. Noah is new in town, so he couldn’t have known, but it’s still a little funny. But then he sees Noah’s face fall a little, and he pulls himself together. “Sorry,” he says again. “It’s just that… Maddie and I, we’re just friends. Girls, they… aren’t exactly my type.”  
  
He watches as a light bulb slowly seems to go on in Noah’s head. He stares out in the air a little to the left of Luke, and nods slowly to himself a few times, and when his gaze finally lands back on Luke, he looks like he is seeing Luke for the first time. For a moment he seems to be studying Luke, his eyes a little more intense than before, and suddenly Luke knows, without a doubt, that Maddie was right. _That one is playing for your team, Luke_. She was right, and Luke smiles a little as he realizes that.  
  
Noah then seems to jump off whatever train of thought he was on, and he blushes a little (adoringly so) and looks away from Luke again. But Luke got his answer. And he remembers the rest of what Maddie told him (she really is a lot smarter than he gives her credit for). Stop being silly. Dig up some confidence. Do something about the situation.  
  
So he does just that.  
  
“Do you…” he starts, making Noah’s gaze land on him again. He takes a breath, ignoring his rapidly beating heart. “Do you want to maybe… do something sometime?”  
  
Noah looks at him, surprise written all over his face. “Do you mean like… like a date?”  
  
Luke shrugs and smiles a little. “If you want it to be.”  
  
Noah stares at him for another long moment, and then that gorgeous smile of his slowly presents itself to Luke. “I think I do,” he says quietly, and then they just stand there, smiling.  
  
  
\----  
  
  
And so they go on a date. Neither of them wants anything fancy, so they decide on dinner and a movie, which then becomes dinner _without_ a movie when they discover, after dinner, that they both really just want to keep talking and get to know each other.  
  
Luke discovers that Noah isn’t just good-looking; he is also really interesting and great to talk with. And _that voice_. Luke is pretty sure he could have listened to Noah talk in that dark, soft voice forever. And as the evening go by, he discovers that as nice as Noah’s voice is, his laugh is even more gorgeous. Luke finds himself wanting to do anything to hear that laugh, and that realization shocks him a little, because Noah is still practically a stranger and Luke really shouldn’t feel this strongly about him. Only… he kind of does.  
  
Luke learns that he is an army brat, and that he grew up on various military bases around the country. His father is a colonel, but Noah doesn’t talk to him much these days, because apparently he is less than thrilled with the fact that Noah is gay. Noah also tells him that he wants to make movies someday, and that he moved to Oakdale because he got an internship at WOAK.  
  
“I know that an internship at a small, local TV-station doesn’t sound like much when your dream is to make movies,” Noah says, looking at Luke across the table. “But at this point I just want to grab every opportunity I get to learn something new, you know.”  
  
Luke nods. Noah is ambitious, and Luke likes that. He knows what he wants and he is working towards that goal. And as Noah talks about how he loves being creative and tell stories, Luke thinks about how he, too, used to love that. There was a time when he just wanted to write, when he wanted to make a living out of it. And for just a moment he feels sad. Sad that he never writes anymore, sad that he never gave it a real try. He has his foundation now, and he is definitely passionate about the work he does there, but listening to Noah talk makes him want to create again. It makes him dream about the same thing that Noah dreams about. The chance to tell stories to people.  
  
They talk for hours. The more Luke learns about Noah, the more he likes him. Noah explains that he is working part-time at Java because being an intern doesn’t pay all that much and he is currently saving up to buy a new camera.  
  
“But I actually really like working there,” Noah tells him. “My colleagues are great and the customers are nice. And apparently it’s a good way to meet guys.” He grins and Luke finds himself blush under that gaze, and he just really, _really_ likes Noah.  
  
At the end of the evening they walk together to Luke’s apartment (Noah insists on walking him home, and Luke finds himself really not wanting to protest, because it means he will get to spend a little bit more time with Noah). They walk part of the way in silence, and Luke thinks about how perfect the evening has been. Best date ever, definitely. Being with Noah is just really comfortable and exciting all at the same time. Luke has never felt that way with a guy before.  
  
Outside Luke’s apartment building they stop and slowly turn to face each other.  
  
“I’ve had a great evening,” Luke says with a smile. Noah smiles too.  
  
“Me too. Do you think we could maybe… do this again sometime?”  
  
“I’m counting on it. You promised we’d watch that movie, remember?”  
  
“ _The Best Years Of Our Lives_ , yeah.” Noah nods. “It’s great.”  
  
“So you keep saying. Personally I think it sounds a little too… old.”  
  
“It’s a classic!”  
  
“So? It’s still old.”  
  
Noah just shakes his head incredulously, but he is grinning too, and that grin is really infectious, and Luke finds himself unable to keep from grinning back. Because Noah’s smile… it’s probably the most beautiful thing Luke has ever seen. He is leaning closer without even realizing he is doing it. And suddenly they are _very_ close. Like, so-close-they-can-feel-each-other-breathe, close. And Luke discovers that Noah’s blue eyes are really mesmerizing. He can’t tear his gaze away.

Luke isn’t sure who leans in the rest of the way, and he honestly doesn’t care, because, as he discovers a moment later, kissing Noah is, hands down, the best thing ever. Noah is soft and warm and gentle and eager all at the same time, and Luke just wants to drown in that kiss because _damn_.

When they pull back, Noah looks at him with wide eyes. “Hello, Luke,” he whispers, his voice having turned husky, and somehow even more gorgeous to Luke’s ears. He swallows.

“Hello, Noah,” he gets out with some effort, and then he leans in and kisses Noah one more time, feeling like maybe this is the start of something really, really good.


End file.
